Now Is The Time

For those who haven't read it, "Tuesdays with Morrie,” published in 1997, is the true story of how sportswriter Mitch Albom becomes reacquainted with his former college professor Morrie Schwartz. This happens shortly after Morrie is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, a terminal neurological illness. Morrie was Mitch's favorite teacher in college because he was so unconventional and insightful. Mitch decides that although he hasn't spoken to his favorite professor since graduation, he needs to go see him to say goodbye. Mitch's goodbye turns out to be a series of consecutive Tuesdays spanning many months. During that time, one of the things Morrie said to Mitch was this:

“Everybody knows they’re going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently…
There’s a better approach than kidding ourselves. To know you’re going to die and be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can be actually be more involved in your life while you’re living.
Every day, have a little bird on your shoulder that asks, Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be? … The truth is, once you learn how to die, you learn how to live…
Most of us walk around as if we’re sleepwalking. We really don’t experience the world fully because we’re half asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do…
Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.” So says Professor Morrie Schwartz.

Have you learned how to die? Can you deal with the thought of your own death? I’m here to tell you today that the Christian faith is uniquely able to help you wrestle with questions of death and life.

There is wisdom in what Morrie Schwartz said. He knew (as we all know) that when there’s something really unpleasant that we have to deal with (and what could be more unpleasant than thinking about your own death) a very common human reaction is simply to delay. We do this all the time. You have to have a really hard conversation with someone, you delay. You have a big assignment or project to do, you delay. You think about making some hard changes in your life, you delay. You think about the stone cold truth that one day you will be dead…how are you going to face that? How are you going to deal with that? Will you delay?

Don’t do it. Don’t delay. The Bible says, “Now is the day of salvation.” Now. Today. Why now? Why today? Because you know as well as I do that there are no guaranteed tomorrows. But not only that. It’s not just “act now, the deal ends tomorrow.” The package deal that God is offering you today will enable to make peace with that bird on your shoulder. The one Morrie Schwartz was talking about. The one that keeps asking, Is today the day? Am I ready? Am I doing all I need to do? Am I being the person I want to be?  Those questions are terrifying, don’t you think? No, I’m not being the person I want to be. Are you? No, I’m not doing all I need to do, are you? Is today the day? I have no way of knowing. Am I ready? Are you ready to die—leave it all on the table? This is what makes Christian faith so persuasive and powerful and beautiful. You can say “yes.”

You can say, “Yes, I’m ready.” You can look at that bird on your shoulder square in the eye and say, “I am ready because Jesus lived, and Jesus died, and Jesus rose again and Jesus lives and rules. If today is my last day on earth, I’m ready, because my last day here is my first day in eternity. I’m ready for what comes next, and it’s more than just a quote-unquote better place. I will be with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect love and happiness. He has paid for my way there. Yes, I’m ready.”

Do you have that confidence? You can. If you don’t, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to shift your ultimate trust from yourself to Jesus Christ, who has secured your future with his suffering, death and resurrection. Think about it, now. The Bible says that God has made it possible for all people to live with Him forever. If you’re convinced that Jesus has opened this door for you, what is there to be afraid of? What is there to be worried about? Don’t you see? The promise of eternal life isn’t just about your final exit; it changes life now, today! You will live forever. You will have a resurrected body. That’s what all this means! So with all that taken care of by a gracious God, you can be fully engaged in what you’re doing. You can really live life.

None other than Martin Luther himself is quoted as saying, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Do you understand what he’s saying? Because Jesus has made you an eternal being, you can relax and do what needs to be done today. In fact, it makes what needs to be done today, planting a tree, for example, high and holy work. You can have this peace. You can welcome that bird on your shoulder. You can possess this sense of purpose and perspective, and you can have it now.

The Secret of the Mustard Seed

The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed…

It is such a simple comparison. The kingdom of God is like a tiny seed that eventually grows up into a relatively gigantic plant. It starts small and ends up tall.

From a historical perspective, we can see the truth of Jesus’ words. One teacher and twelve disciples changed the world forever. Long before the era of instant communication, Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations. Any reasonable person would quickly conclude that was just ridiculous. There’s no way something like that could be done. Except, it was, and it still is. Today, there are people on every continent who trust in Jesus and follow Him. The tiny seed has grown explosively.

However, this mustard seed story has even more to say to us. It can help us to find God’s Kingdom in the right places. It can help us to recognize the hand of God at work.

What does Jesus want us to notice in this comparison? It isn’t just that a seed grows up into a plant. It’s that a teeny-tiny seed becomes a gargantuan bush—in some cases, close to fourteen feet tall! And in pointing out this sharp contrast, Jesus seems to be saying, “Don’t underestimate my kingdom. It doesn’t look like much, but it is packed with power and life. You’ll see.”

It’s here where our lesson really begins. If the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, then that means it always starts out small. It seems tiny and insignificant. Actually, the thing it is trying to accomplish seems ridiculous and impossible.

God’s kingdom seems to offer so little: a splash of water on the head; a round wafer and a sip of wine; people who are just like me; and lots of words from an old book.

And though those words may seem insignificant; though they may seem to have nothing to do with solving the problem you’re going through; though those words may seem like a tiny voice drowned out by louder ones; those words about Jesus are the mustard seed, packed with power and life. From this seed something totally new and unexpected takes root and grows. That something new is faith in Jesus; the surprising, Spirit-led ability to trust in Jesus for life, forgiveness, and meaning.

Jesus Himself could be compared to a mustard seed. When He was born in Bethlehem, it was like a mustard seed being planted in the ground. Hardly anyone noticed, outside of the angels and the shepherds. By worldly standards, it was an insignificant event. As Jesus grew up, he tried to tell those who would listen that He had been sent from the Father to give his life for the world. It all seemed ridiculous and impossible, especially when Jesus was executed on a cross. Surely this had been one big, tragic mistake, and Jesus’ death marked the end of another tiny life played out on planet Earth.

But the seed had not stopped growing. On that first Easter, the earth shook as a living Jesus exploded from His grave. His great tree of life continued to grow as He ascended into heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to his friends, and they began preaching his words with fire and passion. Two thousand years later the kingdom of God still preaches repentance leading to the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. From one seed, the true redemption of the world has grown. Jesus himself started small—born of a human mother in a stable—and ends up tall—lifted up on a cross; raised up from the dead; taken up into heaven to guide and govern our world until its end.

This is the principle by which God operates: from humble and almost embarrassing beginnings—he works remarkable growth by connecting people to His Son. With a splash of water on the head and His own name, God adopts a person as His own and gives them the gift of trust in Jesus. With a round wafer and a sip of wine, Jesus delivers his blood and body into ours, so that we never need doubt that our sins are really forgiven. With words from an old book, God speaks to us and creates things. And He even uses people just like us to carry out his work of compassionate service. I was reminded of this just this weekend at the convention of the Ohio District—Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. You look around at the people gathered there from over 160 churches, and there’s no disrespect intended when I say that it was a gathering of ordinary folks. Yet the ordinary folks of our churches have extraordinary good news to share and we are doing it, in many humble ways that don’t get a lot of recognition. Seeds are being planted; seeds that can change the world.

Or, of course, when it comes to God using ordinary people, we have the occasion to think about our dads on this Father’s Day. If you had or still have a good Dad, today is a day to give thanks to God. A loving father is a great gift, even when you’re familiar with all his quirks. And if you didn’t have the greatest dad in the world, the truth is you do have a perfect Father, the Father to whom you pray in the prayer His Son taught you.

So…where is God prompting you to plant seeds? He’s not asking you to make the seed grow. That’s His job. So don’t be worried or intimidated. Just take that little seed and give it a chance.
Let’s learn the secret of the mustard seed and learn it well. God will always provide the growth he desires. It may sometimes look like the seed is too tiny or that things aren’t happening, but when the time is right, it will be harvest time. What starts small will end up tall.

To Be Continued

Those who have served in our nation’s military know all about paradox.  They love America, so they spend long years in foreign lands far from her shores. They revere freedom, yet they sacrifice their own so that others may be free. They defend the right to live as individuals, yet yield their individuality in that cause. Perhaps, most paradoxically of all, they value life, yet so bravely they ready themselves to die in the service of their country.

I’ve had the privilege of knowing many veterans who have served their country, looked out for their fellow soldiers, and managed to survive the untold horrors of the war. One man named Wallace Wilder sticks out in my mind. He was a member of my former church and had incredible stories to tell about his service in the Pacific theater. His distinguished service was recognized when he received the Silver Star for “gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.” For brave men like Wallace we give God our humble thanks. 

Those who spend time in military service have an uncomfortable life—and as a civilian I know I don’t know the half of it. But some veterans have told me field duty is usually an ordeal: Eating C-Rations/MREs, cleaning weapons, guard duty, braving the harsh elements, long hours, and living in a tent. The Apostle Paul never served in the military, either, but as a tentmaker he knew what it was like to live a nomadic life under harsh conditions. In II Corinthians 5 he writes:

 “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”

For troops on deployment, a tent is frequently “home sweet home.” It’s all part of military duty, but no one lives permanently in a tent. It may seem like it at times, but the truth of the matter is, that at the end of every field exercise soldiers return to their barracks or quarters.

That is exactly the word-picture Paul is presenting. Paul is saying that our bodies are a lot like tents. They provide a place to live, but only for a brief portion of our existence. Like the canvas of a tent, our flesh is just a temporary structure. Paul’s idea of death is breaking down a tent and folding it up, in preparation for moving into a permanent facility. At the end of life, we can add these words to our obituary: “TO BE CONTINUED.” There’s more to come.

Our Lord Jesus assured His disciples that this eternal structure was open to all who would put their trust in Him. In John’s Gospel, chapter 14, He offers these comforting words: “In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.”

When soldiers are on maneuvers, what do they talk about? I’m told they talk about how they can’t wait to get back home. The misery and hardships troops endure make homecoming all the more sweet. Our problem is that we often think the tent we’re living in is all there is. The words of our Lord remind us that life does not end when the tent is folded up—we’re moving on to the place he prepared for us by dying on a cross to cancel our sins. By rising again from the dead, He paved the way to His Father’s house. That’s why so often you will hear those who are prepared to die in Christ say that they are ready to “go home.”

The Bible offers the assurance that when our earthly existence is over, we will leave our tents and dwell forever in our permanent home. This life is the only life we’ve known, but there’s another life coming.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: What you believe about your future changes your present. That’s the whole thrust of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians. He begins with the end in mind. He writes that “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us…into his presence.” If you believe that, Paul writes, you will not lose heart. If you believe that resurrection with Jesus is your future, then your inner self will be renewed day by day, even if your outer self, your tent, is wasting away. Paul continues: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Do you realize the practical power of this resurrection faith? If you are afflicted with physical illness or disease, if your body is breaking down, if you are weighed down with stress or grief, this is a reminder and a promise of two things: number one—your suffering has meaning, and it’s not punishment. Instead, Paul writes, it is preparing you for glory beyond comparison; it is whetting your appetite for life with Jesus in a resurrected body, guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection. That’s number one. Number two is this: your suffering is temporary. Pain, disease, depression, is transient, it will pass. We’re living in a tent, but one day the tent will be folded up and put away, and we’ll move into something permanent, something more glorious and wonderful than you can possibly imagine. That’s what the resurrection of Jesus means for you. If you are certain that the day is coming when you will stand in a perfected body with a perfected soul by your perfect Savior, how could that not change the way you look at today?

Ah, but how can someone be certain? This is the majesty of the Gospel. You can be certain because a resurrected life in the permanent home of God’s presence is not your doing. It’s not about you, it’s not about your good performance; it’s not even about being a moral person. You can be certain because this is Jesus’ doing. He earned it. He makes it happen. What the Son of God did is sure and unshakable. He gives resurrected life to us. It is pure gift. We just receive it. Faith takes the gift and unwraps it and puts it on. You can be certain about the gift because you can be certain about the Giver.

So we do not lose heart. Your affliction is preparing for you an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed , we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Live in the practical power of this resurrection faith. The outcome is certain, because it all depends on Jesus’ perfect faithfulness. Because of Him, your story is “to be continued” forever.

Relationship with a Triune God

If Trinity Sunday is nothing more than a chance to rehash a set of doctrines about God that nobody understands, then this might just be the most boring weekend on the church calendar. And I say that as someone who believes that correct doctrine is of great importance. The Bible itself says that we are to pursue true apostolic teaching. But here’s the rub: God is not a set of doctrines. God an intelligent being. God is spirit, and yet more than that—He actually came down and walked around as a human being on this planet that he created. My prayer today is that Trinity Sunday will be transformed when you realize that God wants you to know Him. In other words, He wants to live in relationship with you. He wants you to know what He is like, and He wants to know you in the deepest possible way. Through the words of Holy Scripture, the one and only true God approaches you and says, “This is who I AM.”

The very idea of “having a relationship” has its origin in God. The God of the Bible has, from the very beginning, lived in relationship with Himself. Way back in Genesis chapter one, God can be overheard talking to himself, saying “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Who could he be talking to, except those parts of himself that we have come to know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Father, Son, and Spirit have lived in relationship with one another from eternity. The act of creation is a decision God made to live in relationship with other beings beside Himself—namely, human beings. He wanted—and still wants—to live in relationship with people so that his delight and rejoicing will be multiplied! What a thought! When you live in relationship with God, He rejoices! You are fulfilling His purpose for creation.

But sadly, it’s hard for us to live in relationship with God. We may be born with a God-shaped hole in our souls, but on our own, we don’t know what it is. We know there’s an emptiness there, so we try to fill it with achievements; with friends, family, or anyone who seems to care; with possessions; with excitement; and when things get desperate, we put various substances into ourselves trying to fill that hole up. But we will never do it. What we try will never work, because it is a God-shaped hole. The only thing that will fit there is a relationship with God. And because we are by nature sinful, selfish, and spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, we cannot initiate the relationship that can finally make us whole.
Knowing this, The Father, Son, and Spirit formulated a plan that would keep their dream alive—their dream of living in relationship with people. The Son, with whom the Father had hung the stars in the sky and laid the foundations of the mountains, would become one of the human beings that they cared so much for, and in this way, God would deal with the problem of sin. Sin had a devastating effect on relationships. It made people not care about God and even less for their neighbor. But if sin could be dealt with—more than that, if sin’s cost could be paid for—then a renewed relationship could be possible.And so Jesus is born into the world he helped create; and so Jesus speaks continually about His Father; about honoring His Father; about being sent from His Father; about His Father giving Him glory; about knowing His Father; and about doing His Father’s will. And it is His Father’s will that he, Jesus, should become the once-and-for-all offering for sin, and that makes it all sound very neat and tidy. It is His Father’s will that He, Jesus, should be hated, betrayed, made fun of, spit upon, beaten, whipped, and finally nailed to a wooden cross. Yet none of that was the worst. No, the worst came when the Father turned away from his Son, withdrawing his relationship from his beloved, co-creating Son, ignoring the cries of the one in whom he had so delighted. This is the hell that Jesus faced on the cross. Not some lake of fire, but his Father walking away.

And there was only one reason for this. Because of our sins of thought, word, and deed; because of the things we have done and the things we have left undone God could have and should have walked away from us. He would be justified in turning his back on us in sadness and disappointment. But the Father put Jesus in the place we were supposed to be, and Jesus willingly and obediently took what we deserved. He took it. He didn’t complain that it wasn’t fair. He didn’t run away or bail out at the last minute. He took it, because He, with His Father and the Spirit, had one goal: to live in relationship with you and thereby to delight and rejoice in you.
Having dealt with sin and hell at the cross, and having crushed death with the resurrection of Jesus, God could now go about initiating the relationship with us that he so desired. So the Holy Spirit goes into action. Through water and the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that very Spirit initiates the relationship that is so precious to Him. In Holy Baptism, the Spirit wraps his arms around one whom he loves, and gives that one the gift of faith—the ability to respond to the Spirit’s embrace with one of his or her own. The Holy Spirit opens your eyes to see all that Jesus did so that you can live in relationship to God. It has all been done for you. It has all been done to you. Spirit, Son and Father moved heaven and earth for you. The relationship between Father and Son was broken so that your relationship with Him could be repaired. He just wants the joy of knowing you. Will you let Him?